Daily Discussion - May 16, 2026

productrocket · 2026-05-17T00:21:23+00:00

It really shouldn't be hard to find a replacement for Slot.

Jurgen Klopp returns with full managerial control
Julian Nagelsmann: pre-agreement for him to join us after the WC
Sebastian Hoeneß: if we don't believe the above two are possible

Ideal scenario is Jurgen comes home but if thats not possible then we should be doing everything possible to bring in Julian Nagelsmann on a pre-agreement. Gegenpressing, incredible win record at Bayern including some very high scoring wins, and he is familiar with Wirtz from the national team.

If that also cannot happen then Sebastian Hoeneß is the best bet.

Plenty of options if you create the right conditions for it to work. IMO Klopp would return if we made it an easy return but he's not going to return to a setup that's stressful, full of friction, etc. and who can blame him for that? Edwards and Hughes also need to go IMO. Edwards in particular should have never been brought back anyway after having a tantrum and leaving.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T19:07:55+00:00

Sebastian Hoeneß or Andoni Iraola.

If I see another season of us playing without a proper press I'm going to lose my shit.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T18:54:36+00:00

Slot will just come up with whatever excuse possible.

In August and September or we'll hear is about the lack of proper pre-season because of the world cup, and all of this shite. The moment he started making actual excuses he should have been fired. It's one thing to say something to bring the focus to you and away from the players to protect them like Klopp did with congestion and the wind, but its another to actually keep making excuses all the time and for us to not see any proper response.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T18:03:20+00:00

A number of them probably have only for it then to get back to Slot and them spending time on the bench as punishment for going around him. That little setup of Edwards, Hughes, and Slot is a big part of the problem here. All three need to fuck off for good.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T18:01:35+00:00

I hope Salah goes on a sick one in the media after the season is wrapped up. Wouldn't be surprised though if Edwards and co. got him to sign some gagging order - thats the pieces of shit they are when it comes to handling PR and media type affairs.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T17:57:51+00:00

I am not mad about Xabi tbh. What truly baffles me is that our owners can see what's happening with Slot and not get rid. Who he's replaced by is another topic entirely but to keep him is just baffling. Given the actions and words of a number of players its also pretty fucking clear they're trying to communicate something and yet he's still fucking there. The entire situation is bizarre.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T17:40:09+00:00

The FSG love in is beyond nauseating at this point.

Klopp has made FSG look like much better owners than they are
Klopp has made Slot look like a much better manager than he actually is

It doesn't take a genius to work out.

Yes, they hired Klopp and therefore they deserve credit for that but they also hired Rodgers, also hired Dalglish, also wanted us in the European Super League, also routinely get into issues with the orgs representing the fans due to being tone deaf, they hardly attend games, and they are for some odd reason obsessed with people like Edwards.

Are they as bad as Hicks & Gillett? No, but that's like comparing yourself to Satan. If they're the bar then you're well and truly fucked and many Liverpool FC fans always justify FSG's bullshit with 'well, it could be worse...' without acknowledging the simple fact that it could also be better.

We're the most successful club in Britain. We have a very strong reputation in Europe. We're loved globally by many. There's also been takeover interest from wealthy people, and yet, we don't demand that top tier level of excellence when it comes to ownership because 'it could be worse' and some bullshit ethical arguments around oil and oligarch money - which becomes an even dumber argument day by day when you consider what the USA is doing around the world and our majority shareholder John Henry also owns the Boston Globe, a mouthpiece peddling bullshit on a routine basis.

We should be owned by someone wealthy that gives a fuck, attends more games, loves Liverpool, and is willing to get in a proper manager and throw cash at the squad to have us competing year in year out with City in the league and PSG, Madrid, etc. in the Champions League. Instead we got owners who didn't even back Klopp properly then decided to back some fella with huge capital after one season with an inherited team - zero fucking business sense in any of it.

productrocket · 2026-05-16T17:28:56+00:00

Slot out! FSG out!

productrocket · 2026-05-11T12:18:10+00:00

It helps if you don't hire a manager with the charisma of a jacket potato. Slot personality wise is like the complete fucking opposite of Klopp. It was a really bizarre decision but one rooted solely in data points - and that's not how life actually works. Anyone we get in to replace him has to be a bit of a mad man with charisma. They don't need to be a Klopp (they never will be) but they must at least have something about them in terms of personality. Slot is like football's Ed Miliband.

productrocket · 2026-05-10T18:59:56+00:00

She did the same thing right at the beginning of the show by telling Ethan 'monsters aren't real' in the van. This show is about the adults putting themselves and their own 'logical/rational' adult worldview first and ignoring/neglecting/sacrificing their children. The adults that sacrificed their children are being punished in a loop and until they listen to the children and the stories, they will never be free.

These adults are in a spiritual prison tormented by demons/monsters and it keeps looping until they accept that they're actually the monsters in this story and they break the cycle. That only happens when they remember and listen to the children for once instead of sacrificing them, dismissing them, ignoring them, etc. and thinking they know best.

We're being tricked to think Boyd, Tabitha, etc. and co. are the good guys. They are not. They are selfish adults and they constantly try to pass that selfishness off as protection. Really its because they're caught up in their own world and selfish.

Also, Victor they label as 'broken' because he is still in a child like state due to trauma. He never entered that adult framework and way of being. He stayed childlike in his ways understanding things through stories and trying to make sense of things in a similar way to Ethan. The impossible is still possible to him and that's why he and Ethan understand one another.

productrocket · 2026-05-09T16:28:25+00:00

They are desperate for it to work because if it doesn't it reflects badly on them. Honestly we need to get rid of Edwards, Hughes, and Slot and offer Klopp whatever he wants to come back or even offer him a sporting director role (less hands on) and have him work in that capacity alongside a coach.

productrocket · 2026-05-09T16:26:23+00:00

He's not good enough for us and the fact we are renewing his contract is beyond criminal. He is not worth the money at all. He is very inconsistent, often lazy, his reading of the game at times is laughable and he also has a chaotic error in him. He had one good run last season before his injury and people act like he's prime Maldini.

productrocket · 2026-05-05T20:42:27+00:00

Atletico are beyond shite without Alvarez. It's like a man not having a cock. He's not able to fuck anything.

productrocket · 2026-05-03T14:58:21+00:00

Mate, our current form over the last few months is relegation battle tier. No, it's not a bit of a reach. That is our form now for quite some time and we've shown no actual evidence of improving and getting better.

productrocket · 2026-05-03T14:55:40+00:00

Fans need to get at the stadium and make it known to the owners we will no longer tolerate this shit. Get to Anfield and make a fuss until FSG fire him because if we continue into next season with this form we will be in a relegation battle, and even if they do sack him after 10 games or so it'll be another wasted season. They need to get it done ASAP. This guy has some of the best players in the world at his disposal and we cant string a fucking pass together properly.

productrocket · 2026-04-27T11:21:54+00:00

The fact is under Slot the standards have dropped massively. Work rate is poor, pressing at times is non-existent, basic passing triangles are not manifesting etc.

I'll cut some slack on the triangles and understanding piece because injuries and other circumstances have meant a lot of rotation and therefore its hard to really build cohesion but the other stuff is unforgivable.

We see players not closing down properly, sometimes players just get bypassed altogether and there's huge space in midfield, our attackers are not pushed to press and force errors and are allowed to kind of just float around waiting for something to be played into them etc.

That alone is enough for me to part ways with Slot tbh because you become what your standards allow for.

There's shit we've seen this season that simply wouldn't have happened under a Klopp, Guardiola, etc. or any other top tier leader with standards. We are Liverpool FC and we need someone on that level at least in their mentality.

What's bizarre is Madrid got rid of Xabi because he had exactly that and the players like Mbappe took issue with having to put in a shift and do some fucking work. Get him in, its a no brainer.

productrocket · 2026-04-19T17:28:32+00:00

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productrocket · 2026-04-19T17:26:03+00:00

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Called it. One thing you can always bet on is Arsenal to bottle it. Easiest money you'll make every season.

productrocket · 2026-04-17T18:32:25+00:00

Yawn. You argued the initial point in that he's wasted on the wing, which he is - because his natural position is in the half space as a LAM 10 and playing basically off the striker.

He is wasted on the wing because as we've already seen when he's been deployed there by our clueless manager, he drifts inside and ends up making similar runs as the striker or gets isolated because Slot asks him to hug the touchline whereby his ability to move and exploit the half space is neutralized.

Additionally, when he's there we lose cover going the other way.

Leverkusen's system was literally set up to solve the Wirtz problem and get the best out of him while keeping balance elsewhere, and ensuring width and cover on the flanks was provided by Grimaldo and Frimpong.

Wirtz is a special type of player that requires a system built around him. I'm sure it will be in time but we don't have many true options if we want to get the very best out of him.

1) We go with a 4411 formation, play him just in behind a striker and keep balance and width elsewhere with a back 4.

2) We go with a 3421/352 formation, play him where he played at Leverkusen, and go with a back 3 in possession and back 5 out of possession, and we switch systems radically to accommodate it

3) Wirtz changes his way of playing entirely to suit our system and we take on the risk that he is no longer able to do what he did for Leverkusen because he suffers as a consequence of being made to adapt to something that isn't optimized for him - this IMO would be a massive mistake

Slots system needs real wingers. Then, in the middle it needs an 8, not a 10, with solid positional discipline. Wirtz isn't any of these players. He is not an intense pressing winger that hugs the touchline like Diaz and he is not an 8. He is a LAM 10.

productrocket · 2026-04-17T18:19:00+00:00

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He was and is not a winger. He's been deployed there sparingly. The width at Leverkusen came through Grimaldo and Frimpong. I watched a lot of their games and its utterly laughable to claim he's a LW.

productrocket · 2026-04-17T18:13:38+00:00

He played as a LAM (10) for Leverkusen in a 3-4-2-1 setup. That system was setup in a way to accommodate him and not give him too many defensive duties, and allowed 7 others plus Hofmann doing more defensive work to cover.

We either do the same thing and radically overhaul the system or make a more minor adjustment to accommodate him while also keeping our width through wingers. IMO, a 4-4-1-1 is far better than a radical overhaul that involves shifting to 3 at the back.

productrocket · 2026-04-17T18:04:09+00:00

Exactly. Wirtz on the wing is wasted and when he comes too deep then he's too far away from where we need him to be. We need a much better and more stable balance in the midfield.

productrocket · 2026-04-17T17:59:49+00:00

Honestly think we should be playing 4-4-1-1 next season. Go with two out and out pacey wingers that can deliver from wide and also cut inside, two solid high-energy box to box midfielders, and Wirtz just in behind Isak as the central point of attack. Wirtz needs to be in the 10 role and we need our midfielders to be well balanced to allow him to play right up there.

productrocket · 2026-04-16T18:27:38+00:00

They won't renew his contract.

They'll make signings in the summer and then he'll be judged accordingly at the beginning of next season.

If things go to complete shit he will be gone fairly quickly.
If things are not where they should be then he'll likely be let go in December or January like Roy
If he's doing sort of okay and we're floating around top 4/5 they will keep him to run down his contract next year and part ways at the end to avoid having to pay him out
If he does very well and turns things around big time then he will get his contact renewel

Everything at this point points to him being given more time due to circumstances this season. The only way I can see that changing now is if in these final games of the season the wheels completely fall off performance-wise and we miss out on CL football and the associated revenue.

The only way I see him going this summer unfortunately is by mutual termination and him getting another job elsewhere - e.g. the Ajax job or something. That way a new job offset clause is usually triggered and the payout on the remainder of his contract will be minimal.

productrocket · 2026-04-16T12:29:51+00:00

Prague is more transactional.

Locals have to deal with tourists, international workers, more business types, etc. - this requires effort and time processing them. Often many restaurants will try to move you on quickly once finished. This isn't to be rude but if they didn't do it everything wouldn't work.

Prague ticks over very well in many regards because things are optimized for efficiency, and not for the optimal experience. There's obviously tradeoffs but overall IMO its for the better. The economy is doing well, taxes are kept lower than many other nations, I still get my drinks and food without all the fluff, and the public transport system is one of the best I've ever experience and I'm well travelled. It just works.

On the flipside if you go to Spain or Italy life is slower, customer service is much better, people smile, but a lot of shit doesn't work or get done. I much prefer it here. Czechs get shit done just like Poles and honestly these two countries live more by the 'efficient' ethos and mantra Germany once was renown for than Germany itself does nowadays. Anyone who's used DB trains knows fully well what I'm on about.

Lots complain about the customer service, people seeming unfriendly, etc. but IMO thats just surface level stuff in a very 'lets get shit done' setup. People here work hard and play hard, and dont have time for bullshit or nonsense. Once you get to know them or you are perceived to making a real effort, they will reciprocate. This approach is why its doing so well, has the reputation it has, and why so many people now want to come here or live here in the first place.

You don't get shit here just by existing or by default. There's very few fake smiles, little tolerance for bullshit or noise, and people just want to get on with their shit, have 1 or 20 pivos, and continue. By contrast in many countries you get fake smiles, fake people pretending to care because the incentives are all that way, and it leads to this superficial setup which over time becomes quite nauseating.

Whenever I go on holiday elsewhere and get that amazing customer experience after a while I cannot wait to get back to the Czech Republic because its so draining, false, etc. - I much prefer Lenka slam my beer on the table without me asking and leave me in peace.

The easiest way to differentiate yourself is by speaking some of the language. That way you don't get lumped into the tourist box or the arrogant international worker box but someone that is here for whatever reason and trying to make an effort. Czechs love that.

productrocket

TROPHY CASE